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(No Model.)

' G W. WASHBURN.

COVER FOR EAR JEWELS.

N0.26'1,1 08. Patented July 11, 1882.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE W. WASHBURN, OF WEST NEW BRIGHTON, NEW YORK.

COVER FOR EAR-J EWELS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 261,108, dated July 11, 1882. Application filed May 16, 1882. (No model.)

To all whomjt may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE W. VVASH- BURN, a citizen of the United States, residing at West New Brighton,in the county of Richmond, New York, and having my place of business in the city of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Covers for Ear Jewels, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to covers or shields for temporarily inclosing and concealing the jewels or stones of ear-rings at the will of the wearer and it relates to those more particularly which are described as self-closing covers. These covers are customarily of spherical shape, each consisting of a thin shell made in two equal or nearly equal halves hinged together, and are adapted to accommodate the connection between the jewel-setting and the car-wire at a point opposite the hinge. The hinge is thus located at the front of the cover, where it is not easily concealed, and considerable space has heretofore been occupied by the inclosed hinge and the spring or springs, while they have added unduly to the cost of manufacture.

The present invention consists in a self-closing cover for ear-jewels having a combined hinge and spring of novel construction, as hereinafter described and claimed, whereby I am enabled to furnish a given size of ear-jewel with a smaller cover than could heretofore be used, and having a wholly-concealed hinge, which is, moreover, at once simple, cheap, and durable, complicating neither the manufacture nor the use of the article.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings is a front view of a cover for ear-jewels (closed) illustrating this invention, the position of the concealed hinge being indicated by dotted outlines. Fig. 2 represents a section on the line 2 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 represents a section on the line 3 3, Fig. 2, with the cover inverted; and Fig. 4 is a back view of the cover as opened to receive a jewel and its setting.

Like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

A B represent respectively the upper and lower halves of the cover, each half composed of a hemispherical cup, of thin gold, for example, inclosing a snugly fitting thin cup,

which may be of any desired metal, united with the former, and cut so that the inner cup or liningof thelower half-cover, B, is allowed to project into the upper half-cover, A, so as to form a lap-joint.

0 represents a hinge-piece soldered to the lower edge of the upper half-cover, A, inside at the proper point, and D represents a piece of spring-wire curved to fit within the lower half-cover, B, and loosely fitted to a tubular pintle-socket, 2, at the extremity of said hingepiece 0, the latter turning thereon as the hinge pintle, while a notch, cut in the upper edge of said lining of said lower half-cover receives said hinge-piece and coacts therewith to prevent lateral displacement of either part of the opened cover, as shown in 'Fig. 4.

The spring D, having been passed through said pintle-socket z, is secured within the lower half-cover, B, by means of two pairs of pegs or studs, a: w, of malleable wire, soldered to the lining of said lower half-cover, and notches u out in the upper side of said spring. The ends of said spring are passed over the studs 00 and sprung under the studs w, the notches 'u receiving the latter and coacting therewith to prevent endwise displacement of the spring. Said studs a: are finally turned down around the spring, as shown, being made long enough for the purpose, so as to prevent lateral displacement of the spring ends. Said spring D is thus firmly held at its ends, while its intermediate portion is i'ree to yield to a sufficient extent to permit the cover to open. It thus constitutes at once an efficient spring for rendering the cover self-closing, and a part of the hinge by which the two half-covers are united.

A pair of notches in the edges of the halfcovers opposite the hinge serve to form the opening a, to accommodate the connection between the jewel and ear-wire, and a pair of little knobs or shot, t t, provide for readily opening the cover by applying the nails of two fingers thereto.

When opened to receive the jewel, as shown in Fig. 4, the released cover is instantly closed by the spring D, and the two half-covers are held together firmly thereby, so as to require no other fastening.

Self-closing jewel-boxes may obviously be hinged on the same principle and substantially the other half-cover and terminating in a pin- [0 in the manner herein specified, and I propose tle-socket, which embraces said spring at midso applying my invention. length, said spring and hinge piece being Having thus described the principle of my wholly inclosed and concealed, substantially 5 invention and the best mode of applying said as herein specified, for the purposes set forth. principle that I have contemplated, I clain1 GEORGE W. WASHBURN.

In a self-closin g cover for ear-jewels, a spring I \Vitnesses: 1 of wire held at both its ends in one half-cover, H. A. LANDGRAFF,

in combination with a hinge-piece attached to l Jos. MOOANN. 

